As the summer season approaches and temperatures soar, fashion trends tend to shift towards shorter clothing items. In recent years, men have embraced the trend of wearing shorter shorts, and now they are also venturing into the realm of crop tops.
While men have traditionally worn stomach-baring garments for exercise or at the beach, it’s becoming increasingly common to spot guys wearing crop tops in stores and bars. Some crop tops are more modest, hitting the waistline, while others are cropped short enough to expose the navel. Some men make their own crop tops by cutting up old t-shirts, while others purchase them from women’s sections in stores.
David Mendoza, a 29-year-old operations manager in New York, owns crop tops of varying lengths. He carefully chooses which one to wear based on the occasion. For casual outings, he opts for mid-to-long length crop tops, but if he wants to make a bold fashion statement or show more skin, he chooses a shorter one.
Initially, Mr. Mendoza used to cut shirts himself to create crop tops. However, he later discovered that stores like H&M and Rainbow sold women’s crop tops that fit him perfectly. Rainbow, in particular, offers more daring and revealing styles with shorter cuts.
Mr. Mendoza began wearing crop tops around two years ago after seeing male fitness influencers on Instagram sport them during their workouts. Impressed by their stylish appearance, he wanted to adopt this trend for himself.
Initially self-conscious about wearing a crop top at the gym, Mr. Mendoza decided to boost his confidence by posting a picture of himself wearing it on Instagram. The caption read: “Let’s normalize crop tops in the gym.” To his surprise, this post encouraged his friends to follow suit, with many of them also sharing pictures of themselves wearing crop tops at the gym and tagging him.
Ethan Garland, a 25-year-old photographer and videographer in Chicago, has also received positive feedback for his crop top outfits. He has made crop tops his personal fashion statement and considers them a part of his signature look.
Garland believes that wearing a crop top elongates his legs and sets him apart from the norm. He finds that people appreciate and take notice of those who dare to go beyond the bare minimum in terms of fashion choices.
However, not all men who wear crop tops receive the same positive attention. Joseph Damian, a 22-year-old content creator in Fresno, California, has faced judgmental looks and received negative comments for wearing crop tops. Despite this, he remains undeterred and has even posted instructional videos on TikTok to help other men make and style their own crop tops.
Damian firmly believes that confidence is key when it comes to rocking a crop top. He advises others to embrace their individuality and ignore any negative judgment.
According to Ben Barry, the dean of fashion and an associate professor of equity and inclusion at Parsons School of Design in New York, crop tops have been a trend in men’s fashion before. In the 1980s, they were briefly popular among American football players who ripped their shirts to expose their stomachs. Johnny Depp even wore a crop top in the movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street” in 1984, and Will Smith sported one in the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” later on.
Codey James, a 27-year-old advertising professional in New York, draws inspiration from the styles he saw on screen while growing up in the ’80s and ’90s. He started wearing crop tops about a year ago, and now about 70% of the shirts he owns are cropped. While most of them hit below his navel, some are short enough to reveal it.
James humorously mentioned that his girlfriend often teases him because all of his shirts are crop tops, leaving her without a regular shirt to wear to bed.
Professor Barry points out that men wearing crop tops aligns with the shifting dynamics of gender and the increasing acceptance of a variety of aesthetics in masculine fashion. He also emphasizes that this trend is relatively affordable, as it only requires a t-shirt and a pair of scissors to transform it into a crop top.
For some men, wearing crop tops is beyond just a fashion statement. Professor Barry has observed that men with larger bodies embrace crop tops as a means to affirm their bodies and challenge societal stigmas related to body image.
Xander Torres, a 30-year-old college student and waiter in Vancouver, Washington, started making his own crop tops last summer by cutting the bottoms off his favorite vintage t-shirts. He noticed that everyone was cropping their clothes, and he decided to jump on the trend.
However, Torres admits to going a little overboard with the cropping, ending up with shirts that were too short or cut on a diagonal. He now has a new rule that he follows: if it’s a single-stitch vintage t-shirt, he simply tucks it in instead of cropping it.
To rock a crop top successfully, one needs to exude confidence, just like Mr. Damian suggested. It’s a fashion choice that allows men to express their personal style and challenge societal norms. Crop tops for men are not an entirely new trend, but they are gaining steam once again in an era of increased gender openness and fashion experimentation.
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